Andrew Garulay, RLA

Landscape architecture is/was sustainable, growth in it was not.

Joint ventures, networking with other LAs, networking with other professionals in related fields, hiring (or being hired) as subs, are all things that many people do easily and successfully, but a true co-op of part time people is not the same thing. It needs to be an entity with marketing and management.
Are any of you in a true co-op?

Those of you who have actually gotten leads, written up contracts and have done residential landscape design/architecture, … would you have incentive to join a co-op? If so, what would that incentive be? Residential work does not require a team, so it is not because it expands your capability. 
 
Joining a co-op is much like taking on a pa…[Read more]

“I am wondering if I start at something like 50,000 is realistic”
 
… I guess it is the bottom of the low 50’s, but it is the lowest of the low 50’s if we want to be technical.

Payscale.com (whoever they are) has the average salay for an LA from U Guelph making c$41k-c$50.8k. That is average, not entry level average. Again, I don’t know who they are or where they get their info.
 
You have to realize that people assume that you believe that you have a higher degree of skills because you stated that the range that you…[Read more]

Playing Devil’s advocate here:
 
The idea is to have a group of talented LAs to be in the position to take on projects that require a group of LAs. My first reaction is that because it is a group it would not be marketable for smaller jobs where landscape design budget and client’s needs would not match. The group would have to target a high…[Read more]

From everything that I see in the job market in my region and everything that I read here and elsewhere …. a bird in the hand is pretty hard to come by. Opportunities are pretty rare in this field these days. Having a job is a pretty good position of strength to work from.
 
There is an old story about a very religious man in a flood. When the…[Read more]

I always think about what client is likely to be interested in any type of business plan that is out there. What would be the likely client? Why would they prefer such a group over a local existing firm or a well known firm that does similar projects to the one that they need help with. Why would it get work that the peole who join it can’t get on…[Read more]

Have you heard back from them yet?

Flyers are an officially documented 2010 success story and belong in this thread!

The better team won. I just happened to catch the end of the game last night and could not resist.

Flyers? ooops.

I think you need always to look at who is saying what. The dissatisfaction is more related to expectations resulting in disappointment. There were lots of reasons to have high expectations for those who began the process of going to school between four and twelve years ago. The expectation was that you’d come out of school into a $50k job with…[Read more]

Quite consistent with my own experience, Alland.

Why do any of you try to come up with formulas of what a pay rate should be? It does not matter what you come up with. That firm, and every other firm, is going to offer compensation as they see fit. Averages and generalities are only good for non-specifics.
Let’s not forget how data is collected. ASLA does it by survey, so only those who want to…[Read more]

Negotiating a pay rate is like making an offer on a house and applying for a mortgage. You need a credit rating and money in the bank. The more you have of each, the stronger you are.
Most importantly and not talked about so much is that having alternatives strengthens your position whether you are the buyer or the seller (employer or employee).…[Read more]

Yukon,
 
If you do well for them, if they do not have many people capable of doing the work that they’ll have you doing in that area, and if it is as “out there” as you implied, there is no way that they will not pay you what you are worth no matter whether you are male, female, black, white, or striped.  Just give them a chance to see how you wo…[Read more]

Raising the issue of pay is risky. Raising the issue of only wanting to work for certain people within the firm … fatal.

Take what they give you and give them more reasons to pay you higher. I don’t think you should expect $50k starting out. I believe any company hiring a recent graduate will be much more comfortable allowing your pay to grow with how well you affect the profitability of the company.
 
You have what everyone else wants – an opprtunity to work. Take…[Read more]

My only experience with “green energy” has been with wind turbines.None of them have had any additional site treatments that would be “landscape architecture” … not even the traditional “pubic effect” planting often associated with vertical elements in the landscape. Perhaps it is that these are placed in “non-people” places. I’ve done some work…[Read more]